War zone
by dragonheart971
Summary: Years into the future, a teenage girl named Crystal takes the reins to lead a war effort. After a lucky break, can she stop the war?


I own only my idea. And my Oc.

Xxxxxxxxx

In the year 2046, Crystal Howlett and her older sister Rogue weren't exactly in the best situation. Even for a pair of mutant soldiers in war time, 38 year old Rogue and 14 year old Crystal most certainly had rotten luck.

On a mission gone wrong, it was Rogue and Crystal who were chosen to go to the worst mutant torture camp in the country. Which was where Crystal found herself. The leader of the mutant war, trying to keep her mouth shut while humans dragged burning hot knives down her sides.

"Where are the mutants going to attack next?! Tell us!"

Her torturers yelled. Crystal was trying her hardest not to cry.

"I don't know! I just joined! I don't know anything! Please stop!"

The man smiled maniacally.

"I don't believe that," He growled, pulling out a large sword. Crystal gulped, just a brief moment before he swung the sword down, completely severing her lower right leg, starting from about an inch below her right knee, and cutting straight through, so the joint was still there. Crystal screamed as her torturer laughed.

"Still not gonna tell?"

Crystal whimpered.

"I already told you! I don't know!"

The man laughed darkly and put down the sword.

"Let's see if your buddy will be more compliant."

He said coldly as he left the room. Crystal paled as she heard the man interrogating her older sister, but used all of her training not to scream for him to stop. It would only get them both hurt more in the long run. Crystal whimpered softly, and allowed herself to zone out in thought until she heard an unearthly scream tear through the room until it suddenly went quiet. When the man walked back in the room with a plastic bag.

"Your friend didn't seem to want to talk to me. I don't think she'll ever talk again."

Crystal paled further at the sight of the bag's contents, which were Rogue's vocal cords and then looked up at her captor.

"Since you two don't know nothin' I'm gonna let you go. You gonna have to leave on your own though. And you gonna have to carry your buddy."

Crystal didn't speak, but slid out of the chair where she'd been tied down the moment she was untied and hopped to where she knew Rogue's cell to be, hobbling in weakly and scooping up her older sister bridal style and hobbling as quickly as she could out the door of the torture camp.

Ignoring the blood pouring from the stump of her leg, Crystal kept hopping. Vanishing into the forest with her sister in her arms, Crystal gasped when she found her sister looking up at her through her exhaustion.

"We're gonna be okay big sis. I promise. I'll call for help when we get further away."

Rogue nodded and drifted back into unconsciousness as Crystal kept hopping. She had hopped four miles on one leg with a 148 pound woman in her arms when she finally gave out a telepathic call for help.

 _Hope? Hope can you hear me?! I need help! Rogue is hurt bad and so am I!_ _Send Jubilee and Elizabeth._

Hope responded immediately.

 _They're on their way, they're gonna bring you straight to the medical wing._

Crystal didn't have time to respond when Elizabeth and Jubilee appeared in front of her. Quickly, Crystal handed Rogue over to Jubilee and nearly missed it when Elizabeth scooped her up bridal style.

"Kid, I don't know how you made it this far with one leg, but we're getting you home."

Crystal nodded weakly and rested her head against Elizabeth's shoulder as the elder mutant opened another portal and walked through it, Jubilee walking right behind her with Rogue in her arms. The moment Elizabeth put Crystal down, she was being fussed over by Hope.

"Hope, my sides are fine. My healing ability took care of that. My leg…less so."

Hope nodded and examined the stump of Crystal's leg.

"I'm gonna have to clean that out and stich it up, so it's gonna hurt. Are you ready?"

Crystal nodded and grit her teeth as Hope poured rubbing alcohol on the wound and quickly stitched up the skin and covered the exposed bone and muscle with it. Crystal didn't speak as she was finally left to rest on her hospital bed as Hope tended to Rogue. About an hour later, Crystal felt Rogue tug gently on the sleeve of the blue camouflage jumpsuit she always wore.

"Yeah?"

Crystal asked, looking over at her now mute older sister. She wasn't surprised when she saw Rogue look at the stump of her leg, and then back into Crystal's eyes with a questioning look in her eyes.

"If you're wondering if I really carried you 4 miles with one leg, then the answer is yes. When they said we could leave because they thought we didn't know anything, I hopped up and grabbed you, and left."

Rogue smiled weakly. Crystal chuckled, she knew that look.

"I know big sis. And you're welcome."

Rogue nodded a little and went to sleep, and after a few moments of listening to the rumbling air vents, Crystal settled in for a nap. Though she wasn't suspecting waking up to see her other older sister, Laura, holding her down by her shoulders and looking into her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Laura asked, still looking a bit shaken. Crystal nodded weakly.

"Yeah, yeah I think so. It was when they cut off my leg, and then the explosion that killed my Mom, and then Dad,, and…"

Crystal couldn't help it, and broke down in tears. Laura flinched, seeing that she hadn't seen her sister cry since their mother had died. Gently scooping her youngest sister into her arms, Laura spoke.

"Sis, I think you have PTSD. How long have you been having these nightmares?"

Crystal whimpered into Laura's shoulders.

"Since before Dad died."

She whispered. Laura gaped, their father, Logan Howlett, had died when Crystal was 6. Laura sighed.

"Yeah, that's PTSD sis. I'll tell Hope to get you some medicine to help you cope. And maybe a pain killer for your leg."

Crystal nodded weakly as Laura laid her back down.

" Okay."

She whispered sleepily, rolling onto her side. Laura rubbed her sister's shoulder before going to request the medicines.

The next morning when Crystal woke up, Rogue was sitting by the side of her bed with a tablet of paper in her hand along with a pen, and on her nightstand, there were three vials of pills. Groggily, Crystal went to read them.

"Painkillers, stress relievers, and a sleeping pill. Nice. Gotta be careful with these though."

Crystal thought to herself before putting the bottles down. She had just started to relax when Beast walked into the room.

"Hi Uncle Hank."

Crystal called, smiling a little. Hank chuckled.

"Hey there. Figured I'd bring you your prosthetic leg today. Give you some time to get used to it."

Crystal nodded eagerly and sat up. Hank smiled at her eagerness to be up and about again as he slid the prosthetic into place and taught his adopted niece how to attach it properly.

A moment later, Crystal was standing again, testing her prosthesis and taking a few tentative steps while leaning on Hank's shoulder before walking on her own for a while. Soon, she was pacing the room, and Hank smiled.

"Excellent work Crystal. I suppose you can try your daily exercise now, but stick to cardiovascular exercises to ensure you grow accustomed to the leg. Also, if you don't want to wear the leg all the time, I have built you a wheelchair so you don't have to."

Crystal nodded in understanding.

"Thanks Uncle Hank."

She said gratefully, hugging the blue furry man. Rogue had been watching the whole thing, I slight smile on her face until Jubilee hugged her from behind.

"Come on. We've got classes to teach and exercises to do."

Rogue nodded and stood up, tucking her notebook into her belt. She gave a polite smile to her Uncle and cousin, and left the room, trailing behind Jubilee. Laura smiled.

"So little sis, what now?"

Crystal smiled a little, and leaned a bit more onto her prosthetic leg.

"I'm gonna go for my morning run. Wanna come?"

Laura nodded and put Crystal's pills in her pocket.

"Sure thing, come on."

Crystal nodded as she and Laura left the room at a light jog, managing to make 8 laps around the building before Laura stopped Crystal so she could take a break.

"Still in good shape I see."

Laura said, chuckling softly. Crystal smiled at her.

"Yeah I guess. It's nice to run a while. It gives me time to think."

Laura nodded as she and her sister walked to the main common room to see several familiar faces. Gambit and Kurt had been arguing over what was going to be served for dinner when Kurt spotted Crystal.

"What happened to your leg?"

Crystal sighed and got herself a cup of coffee.

"Torture camp. I'm fine bro."

Laura watched their interaction with mild amusement as Kurt continued to pester Crystal about her leg. Gambit smiled a bit.

"Things really have changed in the past few years, haven't they?"

Laura nodded.

"Yeah. I wonder what Professor X would say if he could see us now."

Gambit smiled.

"Whatever he would say probably would help us out."

Laura nodded and watched as Crystal finished her cup of coffee and started to walk down the hall. They had us to walked by the front door when they heard someone knock. Crystal turned to Laura.

"Uh…sis? Were we expecting visitors? Nobody knocks anymore."

Laura shrugged and her hands quickly sprouted her adamantium coated claws as Crystal opened the door to see the one and only President of the United States of America, President John Schneider.

"Uh…hello Mr. President sir. How can we help you?"

Crystal asked warily. President Schneider smiled.

"I believe that after thirty years it is time for this war to stop. I'm sure we can reach a compromise that will let mutants and mankind live side by side in peace?"

Crystal smiled.

"That would be quite nice sir. Though I must warn you, mutants are like humans in the very simple way that some of us are good, and some are bad. Before this whole war, this very building used to be a school. The public face of a place where good mutants could learn to control their powers. And the secret face of this location was the X-Men. Mutants who fought for the good of mankind and protected people from bad mutants. I know what my friends and family want. But what do you want from us?"

President Schneider was surprised at just how good a speaker the girl was at clearly such a young age.

"We want peace of mind that bad mutants will not injure innocent civilians."

Crystal smiled softly.

"Then we can reach an agreement. Let us go back to doing what we used to do. Protecting people, and in return, you treat us as equals. Even the mutants who can't hide their mutations."

President Schneider blinked and Crystal smiled.

"Hey Kurt, a moment if you don't mind."

President Schneider blinked again, and with a subtle bamph sound, there was a blue mutant standing beside the girl he was talking to. The new mutant had blue fur, 3 fingers on each hand and 2 toes, and a tail. Crystal smiled.

"This is my older brother Kurt. All we want in exchange for being able to live in peace and defend people is for mutants like my brother to be able to walk around outside without people throwing things at us."

President Schneider nodded eagerly.

"In that case, we have a deal. On behalf of the United States of America, I apologize for the grave misunderstanding and hope that this marks the end of our thirty year war."

Crystal nodded calmly, shifting her wait and subconsciously bringing attention to her prosthetic leg.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your leg?"

Crystal looked down and blinked in surprise.

"One of your torture camps. They wanted information from me that I didn't want to give. They tried to torture it out of me. Long story short, I still don't think I can give them the answer to their question."

President Schneider looked confused and Crystal glanced at Laura, who nodded. Crystal looked the President in the eye and spoke.

"Despite my young age, I have been the leader of the mutant side of this war for the past 5 years. My mother died when I was 8 and my father died when I was 6. My name is Crystal Howlett."

President Schneider gasped in surprise that one of his soldiers had tortured this poor girl, who do already had a pretty rough life, and spoke.

"I apologize for your losses. As of now, the war is over, all of my troops are being sent home, and none of them will attack you again."

Crystal smiled.

"Thank you sir."

President Schneider grinned and shook her hand before walking away, and Crystal shut the door.

"Well that was weird."

Laura nodded as they walked down the hall. Rogue was leaning against the wall, listening to Jubilee talk, when she spotted her sister.

"Hey Rogue!"

Crystal called, jogging over to hug Rogue tightly. Rogue smiled and put her head on top of her younger sister's. Crystal smiled.

"Hey Rogue, I got good news! We don't have to fight with the humans anymore!"

Rogue sat up straight and looked down at her sister, a ridiculously bright smile on her face as she bounced a little from pent up excitement. Jubilee smiled.

"Easy there Roguey."

Rogue glared at her for a moment before giving her a tight hug and spinning her around. Crystal laughed at her sister.

"Don't blame her, she's happy. Laura's gonna be happy too when she realizes what today is."

Laura blinked before jumping out of her seat, where she'd just sat down, and sprinted to the front door, a grin plastered to her face when her girlfriend walked in.

"Hey Laura."

Laura smiled and cuddled Danielle Moonstar, her girlfriend of 5 years.

"Hey sweetie."

Danielle smiled and rubbed Laura's back as they talked, walking back to the common room where Crystal was talking idly with Rogue and Jubilee, Hope and Elizabeth, and Hank. Hank smiled.

"Now that the war is over, you girls now have time for that long vacation you girls wanted. And since we just so happened to master time travel…"

Crystal smiled.

"Girls, pack your bags. We're going to the past!"

The immediate response was for every soldier in the room to jump to their feet and run off in separate directions. An hour later, so if it was planned, the group joined up again at the largest hangar the school had to offer. Inside of which was the absolute largest jet the school had to offer. Big enough to hold several motorcycles and lodgings for up to 18 people. Hank smiled at the girls as they quickly sat own in their seats, and strapped themselves in.

"Now girls, remember that this thing has a lot of power, and do tell the past me I give my greetings. Be careful, and if you ask for an X-Men team, may I recommend the name, X-Rebellion?"

Crystal nodded and put on her favorite pair of black sunglasses.

"We will Uncle. I'll call when I can."

Hank nodded and crawled quickly off the plane, running to the control panel to activate the time portal just as the plane engines started. Before anything could be said, the engines drowned everyone out, and in a bright flash, the massive jet was gone.

Xxxxxxxxx

Logan Howlett was sitting on the back porch when an absolutely massive black jet landed in front of him.

"What the hell?"

He yelled over the plane engine. Professor X rolled out next to Logan as the engine roar died down and smiled.

"We have visitors here from the future. I've given them permission to land and permission to see Jean seeing that two of them are technically disabled veterans and another suffers from PTSD and their on board doctor doesn't have her supplies with her."

Logan shrugged as Jean walked out, carrying a bag of her supplies as the entry ramp to the jet hit the ground. Charles rolled by her side as they went up the ramp to see a group of teenagers in various positions.

"Hello, may I ask which of you requested a quick medical overview?"

The youngest of the group raised her hand.

"Yeah. That was me. Crystal Howlett."

Jean smiled kindly and walked over to the girl.

"You appear to be perfectly fine."

Crystal sighed.

"I'm hiding most of my condition. Give me a moment."

Jean watched as the girl rolled up her right pants leg and proceeded to remove a prosthetic leg.

"How did you end up with a prosthetic leg at your age?!"

Crystal smiled slightly.

"Being the youngest leader of an army ever. I'm 14 and led the mutant army for 6 years after my Mom died. I'm also taking Painkillers for my leg and PTSD medicine."

Jean gaped for a moment before examining the handy work on Crystal's leg and checking the girl's medication.

"Just fine."

Jean said proudly. Crystal smiled and reattached the prosthetic, looking up to see Rogue's and Laura trying to flee the room to no avail as their girlfriends held them down. Crystal smiled.

"I'd start with Laura. She hates doctors. Even Hope can't really hold her down."

Jean looked at Crystal, and then realized that the woman who was closer to getting away was in fact an older Laura. Using her telekinesis, Jean dragged Laura over to her and gave her a check up. Laura whined sadly as she tried to get away.

"But I'm fine! Really Jean! Please! Let me go!"

Jean nodded and released the woman, who promptly sprinted across the room and hugged her girlfriend, hiding her face in Danielle's shoulder. Rogue froze, and didn't even try fighting Jean as she walked over and sat right next to the woman. Though it was clear in her eyes that she did _not_ want to be there. Jean smiled soothingly, and noticed the black fabric choker around Rogue's neck.

"I'm going to have to remove the choker Rogue."

Jubilee was up in an instant as Rogue started to panic, and pulled Rogue into a tight hug.

"Shhh…It's okay Roguey. Easy. It'll be okay. It's healing nicely and you know she won't do anything to hurt you intentionally. Let her see the scar."

Rogue looked at Jubilee and let herself go limp against the other mutant. Jean smiled and slowly removed the black choker to see that it was in place to cover and hide several bandages.

Her senses starting to become more alert, Jean undid the wrappings and had to control her gag reflex when she saw the angry red scar that had been perfectly stitched up and thankfully, wasn't infected. Hope spoke up from where she was sitting, her feet in Elizabeth's lap.

"Before you ask, her vocal cords were removed from her body and nothing I could do could save them. She really can't make any verbal sound."

Rogue nodded from her spot slumped against Jubilee's chest as Jean delicately set to wrapping fresh bandages around the scar and put the choker back on. Charles smiled kindly.

"Now that that is out of the way, you asked for permission to lead your own X-team and be our international team?"

Crystal nodded. Charles smiled.

"You'll need to have your own teammates and name for this time period."

Crystal glanced at Rogue and smiled.

"We know where we want to recruit from, and for a name, how about X-Rebellion?"

Charles nodded.

"X-Rebellion it is. Feel free to go recruit from wherever you wish."

Crystal nodded as Rogue stood up.

"We'll be back shortly then."

Crystal said calmly as she walked away.

"Can we borrow one of your cars?"

Xxxxxxxxx

A long car ride later, and Rogue pulled them up in front of the Brotherhood of Evil headquarters. Keeping their heads up and alert, the two walked into the room and had to duck to avoid having Toad slammed into them. Followed shortly by Mystique's screaming. Crystal immediately grabbed onto Rogue and made them both invisible, calling upon the powers of Death to avoid detection as the blue skinned mutant stormed right by them and went up the stairs. Crystal let go of Rogue as the pair became visible again and knelt next to Toad.

"I'm only gonna offer this once Toad. A chance to get away from Mystique, so you won't be her punching bag anymore. Join a team where you'll be respected. It may be an X-Man team, but it's a freelance one. Run by a couple of outcasts. What do you say?"

Toad smiled a bit and stood up.

"I'm in."

Crystal nodded and shook his hand before creeping into the room he'd come flying out of to see Pietro and Wanda Maximoff talking to Domino. They wanted out, but were nervous about where they'd go after that. Crystal spoke up.

"How about you join a team where you'll have a chance to prove yourself, be a pain in the ass for Mystique, and where you'll each be respected and get some actual training. One time offer. You in?"

Domino didn't hesitate.

"Hell yeah!"

Pietro and Wanda nodded eagerly and Rogue tilted her head for them to follow her. Walking into the foyer just to see Rogue's knock out Mystique on their way to the car. Crystal smiled slightly as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Before you ask, no Domino, she is not your trainer. She's actually Pietro's."

Pietro blinked.

"Why me?"

Rogue didn't even look upset as she drove, Crystal sighed.

"Because between myself and Rogue, we are the only people who can match your speed and make you faster. I'd let her train Domino, but she may kill her."

Domino looked up and tilted her head.

"Why would she be out for my blood?"

Crystal shrugged.

"We're from the future. This is the future version of Rogue."

Domino blinked and realized that she would probably be killed if she upset this woman.

"Oh, okay. I'll stay quiet then."

Rogue shrugged and leaned back in her seat as they approached the plane. Crystal smiled.

"For your duration here until you complete your training, you will each have a specialized trainer. Wanda, you'll be training with Elizabeth. Pietro, with Rogue. Toad, with Laura, and Domino, I'll be training you myself."

The four mutants nodded as they were introduced to their trainers, and from that moment on, Crystal was quite sure that they'd be an elite team sooner rather than later.

Xxx

Pietro Maximoff was sweating heavily after his training with Rogue, who hadnt broken a sweat at all.

"What did she do to you Pietro?"

Domino asked, dangling from a pull up bar by her knees.

"She made me run. At top speed. For six hours. Without any water, or taking a breather."

Crystal chuckled.

"You didn't even make it through your own warm up?"

Pietro sat up.

"What do you mean I didn't make it through my own warm up?"

Elizabeth laughed.

"You design it in 10 years to boost your superspeed. The only person to ever beat you at it was Roguey."

Domino stopped doing her curl ups.

"Roguey?"

Rogue's eyes flashed yellow and she started to move towards Domino until Jubilee wrapped her arms around her neck and gently pulled her back.

"Easy there. She didn't know. No need to get aggressive about heartbreaks that didn't even happen yet."

Domino tilted her head.

"What do you mean heartbreaks that didn't happen yet?"

Crystal glanced at Rogue before speaking.

"You dated Rogue before Jubilee. You broke her heart. She really loved you."

Domino glanced at Rogue and did a graceful flip onto the floor.

"Im sorry I broke your heart Rogue. I wont do it this time. I promise."

Crystal smiled as Rogue nodded in acception, and the air behind Rogue started to shimmer, materialising into what Crystal immediately acknowledged as the older form of Domino. But Jubilee was still there.

"Domino, would you share Rogue if push came to shove?"

The younger Domino nodded. Rogue blinked in surprise when both the older Domino and the older Jubilee kissed her cheeks. Crystal laughed.

"Well then Domino. Welcome to the Darkholme Howlett family."

Xxxxxxxxx

A/N

Reviews would be nice. I may not update for a while, but read my other first and review them while I'm gone. Or else, I won't update any. And I was considering giving my Harry Potter fanfics an update. Even The New King.


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